Blush
by aprilonfebruary
Summary: RE-UPLOADED  "Well I don't just blush for anybody, Hermione. You should feel honored. It's a rare thing for a Malfoy to blush, and I believe you're the first person to see me blush. It's an immense honor!" OneShot. DHr, of course:


**Disclaimer**: No matter how much Polyjuice potion I drink, I can never be J.K. Rowling. So, yeah. All rights go to J.K. Rowling:)

**A/N**: Just a little story I worked on for two days. My first lengthy One shot. I don't really know how I feel about this story.. But, yeah. Here you go! Hope you enjoy reading this one.

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><p>They were at it again. Words—insults and puns really—were being thrown from one side of the hall to the other. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were walking down the hall, coming from a Heads' meeting with the Headmaster.<p>

Yes, they were in their seventh year, Head Boy & Girl. They've made a truce at the start of term to be civil to each other. The first four months of the term were fairly pleasant that one could believe that nothing has ever happened between them before their seventh year at Hogwarts. It was fairly pleasant to the extent that a friendship was starting to blossom. This theory was confirmed when they both gave each other gifts without malice. Hogwarts was finally at peace. Well, maybe.

When classes resumed after the holidays, there was a change in the air between the Head Boy & Girl. The general population of the school brushed it off, not caring as they did before. Little did they know that they should care more than ever. They went from friends to civil and then cold. By the time February came, they were back to calling each other names. The farthest they've gone was to use the animal labels they had, Ferret & Beaver. Never did he use 'Mudblood', never did she use 'DeathEater'. But with the row they're having at the moment at the third floor corridor, they might.

It was a the usual chilly February evening, but it could get warm with the rage the Heads currently possessed. After a while of bickering and throwing puns back and forth, Hermione raised her hands to put a halt to it. They stood in silence... Angry silence then awkward silence.

"What is wrong with you, Malfoy?"

"This, Granger. Walking the halls with the likes of you."

"As if doing patrol with the likes of you is any different! Are you seriously lashing out on me because of what happened between you and Pansy today?"

He looked at her with wide eyes. He was stunned. How did she know about what happened between him and Pansy? They broke up today. They've been dating for just a few months although the whole of Hogwarts thought they were dating since their fourth year when he brought her to the Yule ball. No, that was just them going as friends.

Pansy Parkinson, his fellow Slytherin and childhood friend has fancied him ever since they met. And that's saying something since they were just four years of age when she was brought to the Malfoy Manor with her parents to have dinner with the residents. Pansy was never at all shy of showing her affections to Draco Malfoy. It was weird how he was able to tolerate such behavior. But you have to consider that she was his first friend, and that she still is. It was just that he wanted to try and get into a 'serious' relationship for once in his life.

His 5th and 6th years weren't exactly lonely. He's had girls bouncing from his hand almost every month. The longest relationship he had in those two years would probably be 1 and a half months. And that was because their 'physical' relationship was _that_ fun. That relationship was also his last back then. He was traumatized with the hex the girl cast on him once they broke up. It still haunts him and his manhood.

So he took a chance and entertained Pansy. She was pleasant at first. She kept feeding Draco's ego. That was fun, but then she got clingy. Her whines were cute at first, but now, they were downright annoying. Pansy was getting demanding as well. She offered herself physically, and that was something not to be ignored and taken lightly. Pansy Parkinson had one of the best bodies seen in the halls of Hogwarts. Those in line with her would be Lavender Brown, Ginny Weasley and the Patil twins. Hermione is actually part of that list, but most of the time unacknowledged because of her bulky wardrobe. Anyway, being a boy with hormones, he took Pansy's offer. It was fun at first, but after a while, it got annoying.

Everything about her started to annoy Draco and he can't tolerate annoying. The only thing that Draco was able to take was her jealousy. Most of it were called for since she was, after all, dating the Slytherin Prince: charming, handsome, witty, smart, filthy rich and sex god extraordinaire. That made it easy to tolerate, because her jealousy was called for. But it was before christmas break that he snapped. Pansy heard about the gift exchange Draco and Hermione had and she went hysterical. At the Slytherin common room where a small gathering of Draco's friends and goons, she started shouting at him and accusing him of loving the Gryffindor Princess. He gave her one cold, angry look and told the others to give them a few minutes of privacy.

"_What do you want, Pansy?"_

"_Stay away from her."_

"_Well, that's a stupid suggestion since were both heads and we share a dorm."_

"_I didn't mean literally, Drakie." - Draco winced. That nickname really gets on his nerves. - "I just don't like the spurring friendship between the both of you." He just stared at her in silence which she took as permission for her to go on. "I would just feel assured, as your girlfriend, if you're not friends."_

_The emphasis on 'girlfriend' and 'friends' made her point clear. Pansy was jealous of Hermione. He didn't really expect this since he wasn't transparent with his feelings towards the Head Girl. It seemed necessary to be civil and try to be friends with her to make things easier being co-Heads. But it wasn't really necessary, it was more of a want really. And it wasn't to make things easier. He couldn't, shouldn't think too much about that anymore so he gave in. "Fine."_

And that's the reason why he turned civil to cold to Hermione once classes resumed. She was mature enough to not get it to her and respect whatever it was he wants. But Hermione being Hermione was curious. She was curious but not to the extent of being nosy. Hermione Granger is not nosy.

On the one January night she was scheduled to do her rounds with one of the male Ravenclaw prefects in her year, she heard a noise in one of the classrooms. She motioned for her partner to go on since their shift was now over. He was reluctant at first being a gentleman that the prefect was but she assured him that she'd be fine. After a few words of good-bye, Hermione took her wand out of her robes and crept closer to the door. Instead of barging in, she listened through the door first to have a guess on what was happening inside the room. One she put her ear to the door, she heard something that made her blush. Somebody inside the room was moaning. From the pitch of the moan, it was easy to tell it was a girl. Curious as to who it was, she opened the door slightly. The door wasn't locked. _Carless hormonal students._ She thought with a huff and peeked through the slightly open door.

Curiosity hit her hard in the back when she saw who made the moan and who caused it. She first caught sight of the girl, it was Pansy Parkinson. No surprise there. She smirked, she had the opportunity to take points from Slytherin and send Pansy to detention. All she thought about next was that the boy she was with be in Slytherin to double her vengeful happiness. But it was when she saw the boys head with platinum-blond hair reflected by the moonlight in the room that she squeaked. Realizing what she did, she closed the door hard and ran for her life back to the Heads dorm. She quickly barged into her room and lay on her stomach on her four poster bed. Her heart was still beating fast even after a few calming breaths. Her heart was beating painfully with the thought of who the boy Pansy was snogging.. Or rather, the boy who was snogging Pansy-pug faced-Parkinson.

Her heart clenched as his name ran through her head..

Draco Malfoy.

After that night, Hermione returned Draco's coldness equally or more. Never did they talk out of when it was necessary and neither liked staying in the same room with the other. It was as if the other existed only when they had Head duties to fulfill. They rarely exchanged words.

But on this chilly February night, they both broke their silence and threw words violently at each. But after the mention of Pansy Parkinson, Draco seemed to calm down. Hermione caught up with her breathing, she seemed to have been shocked with mentioning Pansy Parkinson to Draco. She overheard from Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil at the great hall during lunch time that Pansy and Draco broke up after Pansy started seeing Blaise Zabini behind Draco's back. She looked over to the Slytherin table at that moment and saw that Draco was.. chipper. That's not the reaction you would normally get after finding out that your girlfriend has cheated on you with your best friend. Maybe he just needs to crack, that's what probed their bickering at the moment, during their patrol.

The silence was starting to make Hermione nervous. Draco just stared at her openly and cocked his head to one side. He raised one eyebrow and moved towards her slowly. Instinctively, Hermione backed away until her body was stopped by the wall. Her eyes widened in fear as he smirked at her.

"My, my Granger. I never took you to be the nosy kind. Well, that would be the reason of your excessive reading, you just need to know."

"I am not nosy, you arse."

"Such language. I expected more from you Head Girl." He put both his hands to the wall, trapping her in between them. Her eyes grew even wider when he moved his head closer to hers. She forced her eyes shut and that made his chuckle. He moved closer and closer, but instead of aiming for her lips, he went to one of her ears and whispered, "Then again, you are a Mudblood through and through. That mouth of yours is as dirty as your blood"

She placed both of her hands on his chest. This shocked him and he could feel blood rushing to his cheeks. But it stopped when she pushed him away. He sighed in relief, that would have given her something to tease him with.

"Is that all you could insult, Malfoy? My blood? I thought you figured that I didn't care about that since our fourth year here. Can't find anything else to insult, eh?" She smirked at him. He never knew she could smirk like him. That's a pretty hard question to answer. Hermione has grown gracefully and is one of the most gorgeous girls in Hogwarts. Her wild curls grew a little tame. A few curls would stand here and there but it wasn't as disturbing as it was when they were younger. Her figure was definitely to die for, just the right amount at the right places. Her complexion overall was fair, although on her face she had a few freckles scattered over her nose. But this didn't taint her beautiful face. Instead, it added another adjective to describe her... Adorable. Draco swallowed hard. What's he supposed to say?

He couldn't let her win. No, this would dent his reputation. He can't lose to her so he looked at her straight in the eye and spoke.

"I can find a few actually."

"Go on, I'm listening."

"First on my list is that hair of yours with curls sticking out. Second, you have, to put it nicely, curves. More than what I've seen in my life. Third, that nose of yours and how it's got dust on it all of the time. Oh, pardon me. They're freckles. From afar they look like dust. That explains a lot since you like stuffing your nose into old dirty books, and apparently, other people's business.." He stopped and looked at her, she looked flushed. She was flushed with anger.

"And you think you're so perfect?" She shot up to him, her voice going a few octaves higher.

"Yes, I'd like to think so." Draco sighed and ran his hand through his hair—which she noticed was left unkempt and scattered on his head—and flashing her a big smile. _Adorable._ She mentally kicked herself for ever attaching the word adorable to Malfoy.

"Well, ferret, I'm sorry to disappoint you but you're not."

"Go on, I'm listening."

"First, is that hair of yours. From afar, it looks white. One may consider you part of the older population, all you have to do is stoop. And it looks as dead if it's slicked back and obviously dosed with a gallop of hair gel. Second, your eyes. Grey? Such a weird color. Third, your skin. It's just so pale. It reflects how heartless you can be. Not even a singe of emotion can be seen through your skin. Of all the times I've seen you, been with you, there was never a time when even a faint blush paints itself on your cheeks. No emotions at all. That explains a lot. You must be blessed, cursed really, with a heart of stone."

"Continue talking, Granger and I might actually feel hurt." He chuckled darkly. But deep inside, he was fuming. He was just too good at hiding his emotions. She huffed and started to walk away. It didn't even get him. Goodness, she needs to work on her puns. She was stopped all of the sudden when he grabbed her arm.

"Let go, Malfoy. I'm allergic to ferret fur."

"Oh come on, Granger." His voice sounded almost pleading so Hermione looked back. She looked at his face but was not able to tell what he was thinking. His brows were furrowed but not out of anger but of confusion. She couldn't put her finger on it so she waited for him to speak more.

Draco let go of his hold on her, swallowed hard and opened his mouth. "I'm sorry."

She mocked gasped and placed both her hands over her mouth which formed an 'o'. Then she laughed. "I didn't know sorry was part of your vocabulary."

"I haven't really done anything to be sorry about before! This is actually something new and I'm not liking it one bit." He raised his voice, obviously offended by Hermione's actions. Then he placed his hands over his head and fisted a few of his unkempt hair. "Good grief, Granger! You have a knack of driving me up the wall!"

She smirked, "I like driving you up the wall."

After hearing her say those word, he let go of his hair and crossed his arms on his chest and cocked his head. "You do, now?" He smirked and advanced towards her the second time. She blushed. She didn't mean it like that at all. Like whatever he's thinking. It's not like that. She was now panicking. And what does she do when she panics? Hermione Granger bites her lower lip.

Draco's eyes, which were earlier on her whole face, narrowed on her lips. That was when his eyes went wide. He was just joking about turning what she said into a sexual innuendo but now, she was biting her lip. His thoughts suddenly filled with images of touching her lips just to find out how soft they were, using his own pair of course. He moved closer and leveled his eyes to hers, all the while not blinking. He was getting closer and closer until they were just a breath away. His heart was beating fast and loud. He can hear the pounding with his ears. He hoped that Hermione didn't hear it.

Of course she didn't hear it, her heart was beating fast and loud. She can hear the pounding in her ears and hoped what he hoped. She couldn't even bring herself to close her eyes and she found it fairly hard to breathe. Given the right mind, it would have been easy to push Draco away from her and hex him to oblivion. But she wasn't in her right mind. Something was taking over her... Something beautiful and frightening.

"As long as you're the on driving me up the wall, I don't mind." His voice was husky and his warm breath tickled her face. It was inevitable for her to blush. He suddenly cupped one of her cheeks and ran his thumb over it. He felt her cheeks get warmer, he couldn't help but smile. She sighed and closed her eyes and placing her hand over his on her face. And then it trailed down his arm and found its way on his chest. Her other hand found its own way there. He closed his eyes and made his move, moving to close his gap between his lips and hers. Just when he was sure he was just a breath away, she pushed him forcefully away from her.

Stunned, that's how he was. But after a short while of thinking about how stunned he was, he then turned frustrated. Oh, how she really drove him up the wall!

She smirked, a smirk that could challenge his ever-so-famous one. At this, he smirked back. She was startled with his reaction. Why would he smirk? The one on her face vanished and her lips were pressed together in a grim line. She was getting nervous again.

He made his move towards her again. This time, without pretense, he pressed himself against her. She gasped, her mouth forming an 'o'. He took this opportunity and covered her mouth with his. He did the thing he's been wanting to do since the start of term. Kiss her.

He felt her tense up against him, her hands pushing against his chest. But this time, he stood his ground. He continued on kissing her, moving from the top lip and sucking the lower lip. After her useless attempts, she gave in. She relaxed and snaked her arms up around his neck. She was kissing back at this point, but still no 'inner' contact. He breathed in, making her moan with the sound of air he was forcing in. He grazed her lower lip with his tongue, seeking access. She hesitantly opened her mouth and went into a sudden frenzy when his tongue made contact with hers. He let out a groan when she pulled his head down to deepen the kiss. His hands, which were still at first on her waist was now caressing her sides.

They were so lost in the kiss that neither heard footsteps from the far corner of the hall. The kiss was just getting hotter when a loud gasp stopped them. They pulled back and stepped far away from each other. At the same time, both their heads turned to the direction where the gasp came from and their eyes went wide in horror.

Eventually, it wasn't just one gasp. It was actually two, produced at the same time. At the end of the hall were two prefects in their year, each of their hands covering their mouths which were left open from the gasp. Luck must have left them alone with their bickering tonight as Lavender Brown, Hogwart's biggest gossip and Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy's ex-girlfriend, were the ones who found them kissing. Draco suddenly looked back to Hermione, who was now pale and reached out his hand to her. Sensing his hands hovering, she looked at him, meeting his eyes which were soft, present with worry. She smiled and shook her head. "I can handle this." Draco faltered a bit with her statement. But, then again, she was in Gryffindor. She was brave. Plus, she's the brightest witch of their age. She can handle duels, both verbal and magical.

Pansy came rushing towards them in a second with Lavender behind her smiling like an idiot. She was given new and rich material to talk about tomorrow. As soon as she reached them, Pansy Parkinson set her eyes on Hermione with a death glare. Draco was suddenly wary. He knows how much a bitch Pansy could be, he was worried for Hermione.

"Why are you harassing my boyfriend, Mudblood?" Pansy practically growled at Hermione.

"Gee, that never gets old does it? Oh, and where is your boyfriend, Parkinson? I don't see Zabini anywhere." She smirked. Goodness, she's turning out to be a female version of Draco Malfoy! Pansy went straight red and turned her back on Hermione and faced Draco. She then pulled him down to kiss Malfoy to stake her claim, which was pointless seeing as Draco was looking at Hermione the whole time. He wasn't kissing her back so she pulled back and put on an act that she proved her point. But when she looked up, assuming to meet his gaze, she was flabbergasted. He was looking at Hermione the way she wanted him to look at her. Desperate, she did something that took everybody currently present in the hallway by surprise. Pansy Parkinson hitched her leg up on Draco's hip and wrapped it securely on his thigh and started moving suggestively against him and moaned his name. Draco, caught off-guard, closed his eyes to try and restrain himself. Hermione has got him a little worked up a little earlier so it's normal for his body to respond to Pansy's actions. He closed his eyes and focused on thinking of Professor Snape in a frilly pink tutu dancing in Potion's class to calm himself down. When he was able to manage, he opened his eyes and looked straight at Hermione. She looked flushed, he smirked. Seeing as Draco wasn't responding the way she wanted him to, Pansy pulled back and slapped Draco, but lighter than the normal slap.

This brought about the awkward silence among the 4 people in the hallway. Lavender gasped and was in the state she was in when she caught Hermione and Draco kissing. Hermione looked a little mad while Pansy was so nervous she was practically shaking. Draco was just cool about it but didn't move his head back to where it was before the slap. The silence was getting really, really awkward so Hermione made her move.

She stood in between Draco and Pansy and shot a death glare at her.

"What are you doing harassing my boyfriend, Pug-face?" _Boyfriend?_ The same thoughts occurred in the three heads who were listening to Hermione. Pansy then got over her being scared and turned extremely angry. Draco now moved his head to look at Hermione only to find her bushy-haired head in view.

"You have got to be joking, Mudblood. Are you really that desperate on raising your status up a notch that you would lie in front of me and the victim of your lie?" Pansy snorted, a very unpleasant snort. And a snort is already unpleasant.

Hermione then didn't know what to do. Right, she was lying. But she wasn't doing it to _raise her status up a notch. _She didn't even know why she was doing it. Panic was starting to overcome her as she rattles her brain for a good comeback or whatever just to get rid of the silence. Because, according to popular belief, silence means yes.

Time seemed to slow down that instant, but Pansy's face turned smug in a flash. This just made it more hard to think of a _witty _and rational comeback since all she wanted to do was throw whatever bad thing comes into mind, and that is how Hermione Granger plays. Just to buy her time, she placed both her hands on her hips, cocked her head to one side and smirked a Malfoy smirk. Her plan seemed to work since Pansy was momentarily taken aback. Ok, now would be a good time to say something witty, she thought to herself. Just as she opened her mouth, she felt hands wrap around her waist and pull her against the owner of those hands. For a fraction of a second, she didn't know where those hands came from. She bounced back right away and her smirk became more definite. It seems Draco was in on the whole game too, only playing on her side.

"Drakie, why?" Pansy was whining, her face scrunched up in confusion, anger and despair. How is that even humanly possible? It was actually funny to look at that Hermione had to stifle a laugh. It would have been rude, and Hermione wasn't that low to diss on her current state. She was more than that.

"Well, why not? If you go and mention her blood status then you're just plain narrow and stupid, Pansy. We all know why." Draco nuzzled his head on the crook of Hermione's neck and shoulder and started to peck kisses. Pansy had to think fast. She needed to say something to at least put Hermione down.

"Oh, Draco. I never knew you're the one who settles for a mudblood _whore._ With her being passed around between the Weasel and Pothead. And who knows who else is involved in passing her around. Probably the whole of Gryffindor house." Silence. Pansy's face turned smug seeing that the silence present was a sign of defeat. But, as always, Hermione had a comeback.

"Why don't you ask her if your accusations are true. She would know a thing or two about 'passing'." Hermione was pointing to Lavender who suddenly turned red and looked a little offended. Then again, Hermione was right. She would know. But Lavender pretty much had a grudge with Hermione because of her jealousy that she could twist the tales and people would believe her, even Pansy Parkinson. Lavender smirked.

Mortified, Hermione was in panic mode again. She knew about Lavender's ability to twist stories. And from the look on Lavender's face, she just might do it and taint her reputation. Although they were lies, Hermione really couldn't handle all the rumors. Draco could sense Hermione's panic since she tensed up against him. And what does Hermione do when she panics? I think you know.

"Come now, love. Stop biting your lip. Here, let me do it." In one swift motion, Draco spun Hermione around so that she was now facing him and placed a rather soft kiss on Hermione's lips. It was chaste but it bore passion. He pulled back and set his eyes on Pansy. "Pansy, stop describing yourself, will you? You're the one that gets passed around." He glared at her while wrapping his arms around Hermione once more.

Infuriated, and scared, Pansy briskly walked away with her nose up in the air. All that was left in the corridor was Draco, Hermione and Lavender.

"Thank you for playing along. I appreciate that." Hermione smiled up at Draco. He raised one of his eyebrows wearing a quizzical look on his face.

"Granger, need I remind you that the school's biggest gossip just witnessed the banter we had with my ex-girlfriend just now. Surely, with her being your fellow Gryffindor and acquaintance, you wouldn't want to taint her reputation by spreading false tales. Why don't we give her the truth to tell for once, and the truth coming from the source itself? What do you say?"

"You're lucky you put me in a good mood, Malfoy. If the circumstances were different, you'd be pushing your luck."

"Let's just say I have impeccable timing, yea?" She giggled at this. Oh, Merlin she's so adorable!

They then turned to face Lavender who was still gapping at them. Hermione was wondering what to tell her. There's still that chance where she can twist her tales and make them sound as if Hermione was not the Hermione everybody knew. She was about to tell her the tale, but Draco got there first.

"Alright, Brown. Here's the tale. I've been pursuing our dear head girl for a while now. That's why I've called a truce with her at the start of the term. I had a hidden agenda, to make her fall in love with me. The whole gift giving thing for Christmas was my idea so that I could give her a gift she wouldn't not accept. Cunning, aren't I?" He directed the question to Hermione. She smiled. "Moving on... Pansy was evidently getting in the way. Well, I couldn't blame her. She was my girlfriend after all. I had to think of something, so I went to Blaise. I suddenly found out that Blaise had a thing for Pansy and I gave him my blessing. I know she wouldn't want to break-up with me. Pansy was really clingy. So me and Blaise planned out how I can catch them cheating and use that excuse for breaking up with her-ow!" He felt a little sting on his arm when Hermione threw him a playful punch. He just smirked at her. "And yeah, I was actually planning to ask her to be my girlfriend tonight. I just needed to get her angry so that when we both head back to our common room, she'll be seriously caught off guard of what's waiting for her there. And I'm not telling you what it is." He looked at her and sticked his tongue out. She just laughed.

"So, that's the story Brown. I trust you have good memory to remember every detail, yea?" Lavender nodded her head fast. "Oh, and don't forget to mention that I wasn't able to wait until we reach our common room to ask her to be my girlfriend. So I asked her earlier and her answer was what you witnessed when you rounded the corner and saw us." He suddenly pulled Hermione close and gave her a peck on the nose. Just then, there was a flash of light coming from Lavender's direction. They both looked at her and saw her holding up a camera. And it was obvious it was a Wizard camera.

Without thinking, Hermione lunged for Lavender but was stopped by Draco who firmed his hold on her. As a late reaction, Lavender ran away, camera at hand and a huge grin plastered on her face.

"You liar. You never asked me."

"Yes I did, in my head."

"That doesn't count at all."

"Alright. If it makes you feel better... Hermione Granger, will you be my girlfrie-mph." Draco wasn't able to finish his sentence. Hermione suddenly pressed her lips over his and kissed him. It started out innocent then she added heat and passion. Draco let out a groan when she suddenly pulled back. He was just about to return the same enthusiasm. He looked at her disapprovingly.

Hermione couldn't hold the big smile that was brought about by what she saw. Draco Malfoy was pouting and his cheeks were red.

"I take back what I said about your skin. You are capable of showing emotion with your pale skin." She beamed at him.

"What are you on about, woman?" He looked at her confused. He was to engrossed in the thought of having her that he didn't really think about what she just said. Hermione then cupped his face with both her hands and ran her thumbs on his cheeks.

"You're blushing."

He scoffed but it was lacking malice. "Well I don't just blush for anybody, Hermione. You should feel honored. It's a rare thing for a Malfoy to blush, and I believe you're the first person to see me blush. It's an immense honor!"

She gave him a playful smack on the head. "You really are and arrogant prat."

"Yes, well. At least I'm _your_ arrogant prat, right?" With that, he closed the gap between them and kissed her.

Who knew Draco Malfoy could blush?

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><p>Thank you for reading!:) Hope you could drop me a review.. Will be much appreciated!<p> 


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